Telemetry Intelligence (TELINT) During the Cold War

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Telemetry Intelligence During The Cold War Observations and Conclusions Only a few months after the end of World War II it was clear that the free world needed to be concerned about the spread of communism, and that the activities of the Soviet Union might be used to forcefully gain its political and geographic objectives. Winston Churchill summarized the world situation in his so-called “Iron Curtain Speech” in 1946. The Soviet Union had already started, and continued, development of nuclear weapons as well as missile and space systems. The Soviets tested their first ICBM in 1957. Starting in 1958, NSA technical and management initiatives and expertise made significant intelligence gains for the United States and its allies from TELINT information. The information provided critical data on foreign missiles and space vehicles that were a threat to the United States, including vital intelligence information for use by U.S. missile and satellite system designers and system operating personnel. The U.S. had also started political actions to limit the world-wide use of possible weapons of mass destruction. In 1972 the United States formalized an agreement with the Soviet Union on strategic arms limitations called SALT I. SALT I contained wording that allowed each party to use “national technical means” to verify aspects of SALT I and stated that neither party would interfere with the technical means of the other party. In 1979 the SALT II agreement contained the “Second Common Understanding,” which stated: Each party is free to use various methods of transmitting telemetric information during testing, including its encryption, except that, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article XV of the Treaty, neither Party shall engage in deliberate denial of telemetric information, such as through the use of telemetry encryption, whenever such denial impedes verification of compliance with the provisions of the Treaty. These provisions attested to the value of the information gained by both parties through the use of TELINT from each other’s missile and space developments. NSA sponsored an aggressive program to collect, process, analyze, and report on Soviet Union telemetry for use by U.S. policy makers and technical managers. The information presented in the National Cryptologic Museum displays, including the HARDBALL and RISSMAN equipment, attempts to portray some of the system developments sponsored by NSA to accurately and thoroughly monitor Soviet achievements in the missile field. 28
Acronymns and Project Names Acronyms and Project Names ANDERS – The now-closed station on Shemya Island, Alaska, that housed the HARDBALL telemetry collection equipment COBRA JUDY – Project name for the precision radar on the USNS Observation Island that monitored Soviet strategic missile testing DEF/SMAC – The Defense Special Missile and Astronautics Center; responsible for DIA and NSA collection coordination and early reporting on all DoD intelligence collection and early processing activities on foreign missile and space activities. The name was changed to Defense Special Missile and Aerospace Center, and the acronym became DEFSMAC in 2002. ELINT – Electronic intelligence; a category of electronic signals that includes TELINT FISINT – Foreign instrumentation signals intelligence; the current acronym for TELINT HARDBALL – The project name for the equipment system that collected Soviet telemetry from missiles and satellites that could be viewed from the Shemya, Alaska, location NSA – National Security Agency; responsible for DoD ELINT/TELINT/FISINT since 1959 NTPC – National Technical Processing Center; the name used by NSA to describe the ELINT and TELINT signal processing laboratory at NSA R-7 – Soviet ICBM that was developed in the 1960s and was the booster for the Soviet SL-4 RISSMAN – A project name for telemetry processing equipment at the NTPC SL-4 – Soviet space launch booster based on the R-7 ICBM SALT – Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty; SALT I was implemented in 1972 and SALT II was implemented in 1979 START – The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, signed on July 31, 1991 STONEHOUSE – The facility, now closed, that collected telemetry from Soviet deep space probes from a U.S. Army base at Asmara, Ethiopia TELINT – Telemetry intelligence; defined as an NSA management responsibility in the 1959 Department of Defense Directive that was updated in 1971 TELLMAN – The equipment that was replaced by RISSMAN in the early 1980s 29
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Telemetry Intelligence (TELINT) During the Cold War

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